Washing machine



Aug. 28, 1934. R. A. HITCHCOCK WASHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 1 W A M m M a 1934- R. A. HITCHCOCK 1,971,980

WASHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1'7, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 grime/WM PatentedAug. 28, 1934 UNITED STATES wnsnmc Raymond A. Hitchcock,

'1. Baldwin Martin,

MACHINE Macon, Ga., assignor to trustee for T. Baldwin Martin, WilliamThomas Williford, and Raymond A. Hitchcock, all of Macon, Ga.

Application September 17, 1932, Serial No. 633,669

5 Claims.

The invention relates to washing machines and has as an object theprovision of a washing machine having means to at will oscillate orrevolve a basket in which the material to be acted upon is contained.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means to oscillate abasket containing material to be acted upon for cleansing the same, andalso means to revolve said basket at a high rate of speed withoutchanging the position of the basket.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a washing machinecomprising an oscillatory basket having means to cause the material inthe basket to move with the basket and 'to be submerged in bothdirections'of oscillation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel drive fordevices of this character.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a washing machinewith a rotary pump driven from a portion of the basket-revolving meansby frictional engagement therewith.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an electric drive forselectively revolving or oscillating a basket having clutch shiftingmeans equipped to break the circuit through the driving motor while theclutch is being shifted.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription when read in connection with the accompanying drawingsshowing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the basket upon a reduced scale;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail section on line 55 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of the lower end of the basketactuating shaft showing the clutch mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a detail side elevation of the frame;

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view on line 8--8 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a detail section on line 9-9 of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a detail vertical section of the gear shifting lever.

As shown the device comprises a frame 10 embodying legs 11, preferablythree in number, and a central standard 12 shown as supported from thelegs 11 by means of upper and lower brace members 13, 14. A vat 15 isshown supported upon the legs 11, its central portion being free fromthe central standard 12 of the frame.

A basket actuating shaft 16 is shown journalled in the standard 12 upona vertical axis upon ball bearings 17, 18, one of said bearings beingadapted to act as a thrust bearing to take the weight of the basket, apacking gland 19 being shown about the shaft 16 where it passes throughthe center of the bottom of vat 15. A basket 20. having foraminous wallsis shown as rigidly mounted upon and supported by the shaft 16.

To cause material as clothing to be acted upon in the basket to movewith the basket while it is oscillated or revolved, there are shown aplurality of vertical rods 21 secured at their lower ends 22 to-thebottom of the basket and standing upright in a position spaced from theside wall of the basket. To cause the material to be submerged when thebasket is oscillated, the upper ends of the rods 21 are shown asbifurcated, the ends of each branch being turned at an angle to providea portion 24, the ends of which portions are secured to the side wall ofthe basket. Due to the inclination of the bifurcated portions 23, thematerial in the basket will be depressed or submerged by impact withthese bifurcated portions when the basket is oscillated so as to keepthem submerged in the cleaning fluid in the vat 15.

To drive the basket actuating shaft 16 selectively in continuousrevolution, there is shown a belt pulley 25 loosely mounted upon theshaft 16 and supported thereon by means of clutch sleeve 26, best shownin Fig. 5, which clutch sleeve 26 is rigidly pinned to the shaft. Thelower portion of the pulley 25 is shown with clutch coacting teeth 27.To actuate the pulley 25 there is shown a belt 28 passing about thepulley and about a second pulley 29 shown as rigid upon the shaft ofelectric motor 30 supported from the central standard 12 upon a verticalaxis.

To cause oscillation of the basket actuating shaft 16 there is shown anoscillating member 31 loosely mounted upon the shaft 16 and supported bymeans of ring or head 32 secured upon the lower end of the shaft 16. Todrive the oscillating member 31, there is shown a worm gear wheel 33revoluble upon the end of a pin 34 100 eccentrically engaged upon shaft35, theworm gear 33 actuating the member 31 by means of a pitman 36engaging a ball-ended crank pin 37 carried by the wheel 33, itsremaining end being in engagement with a ball-ended pin 38 project- 105ing from the oscillating member 31.

To absorb shocks the balls 3'7, 38 which are contained in sphericalcavities in the pitman 36 are pressed upon by means of springs 39confined in the ends of the pitman by means of screw- 110 threaded discs40, whereby the pressure upon the spring 39 may be adjusted.

The gear wheel 33 is shown as driven by a worm gear 41 carried upon theend of the shaft of motor 30.

To selectively actuate the shaft 16 for revolution or oscillation, thereis shown a shiftable clutch member 42 slidable upon the sleeve 26 andfeathered thereto, which clutch member 42 carries teeth 43, 44engageable with the clutch teeth 27 and with teeth 45 carried by theoscillating member 31. The clutch member 42 is shown as equipped foractuation by means of a yoke 46 engaging a groove 47 in the clutchmember and mounted upon a rod 48 spring pressed into its upper positionby means of a spring 49 contained in a socket 50.

To depress the clutch member against the spring 49 there is shown ashaft 51 carrying an eccentric cam 52 adapted to depress the rod 48 byimpingement upon a pin 53 projecting from the rod 48. The shaft 51projects to the exterior of the casing 54 and bears a crank 55bifurcated at its end at 56, the bifurcations receiving therebetween apin 57 carried by a crank 58 mounted upon shaft 35, which shaft isjournaled in the wall of the casing 54 and in a hanger 60 supported uponone of the frame walls 14.

For actuation of the shaft 59 there is shown a'second crank 61 carryinga toothed sector 62 engaging with the teeth upon a bevel gear carried bya shaft 64 which may be actuated by means of a lever 65 pivoted upon itsupper end for a purpose to be described.

The eccentric end 34 of the shaft 35 is provided for the purpose ofmoving the gear wheel 33 out of mesh with the worm 31 when the shaft 35is oscillated to actuate the clutch member 42 into the elevated positionto cause revolution of the basket 20and to make theoscillation-producing means inoperative.

It is desirable to ensure that the motor 30 will not be causing eitherrevolution or oscillation during the shifting of the clutch and for thispurpose snap switches 66, 67 are provided at the limits of travel of thelever 65, either of which switches will close the circuit through themotor 30 and will automatically open said circuit when the lever 65 ismoved out of contact therewith.

A flange 68 is shown within which the shaft 64 is journalled, whichflange 68 bears notches 69,

70 into which the lever 65 may be engaged for retaining the lever ineither of its limits of movement.

To cause the lever 6540 be depressed into the said notches the lever ispivoted upon rod 64 as at 71 and a rod 72 engages a pin 73 in thebifurcation of lever 65, which rod 72 is pressed outwardly against thepin 73 by means of a spring 74 surrounding the end of the rod andabutting against a member 75 provided with a thumbpiece 76. By pressingupon the thumbpiece 76, the spring 74 may be compressed and the lever 65may be raised out of the notches but will be caused to fall into theother notch after the lever has been shifted to shift the clutch.

To pump water out of vat 15 to waste there is shown a rotary pumpcontained in a casing 7'7 pivotally mounted upon bracket 78, 79projecting from the standard 12, the shaft of themotor projecting fromthe lower end of the casing and carrying a friction wheel 80 adapted tobear upon the belt 28 through an opening in the casing 54, as clearlyshown in Fig. 4.

A lever 81 is shown projecting from the pump casing which may be pressedby a foot of the operator to cause the friction wheel 80 to impinge thecontinuously running belt 28 for operation of the pump.

A hose 82 is shown as leading from the bottom of the vat 15 to the pumpcasing 77 controlled by a valve 83. A hose not shown will be attached tothe outlet 84 from the pump casing whereby the water extracted from thevat may be led to waste.

In the operation of the device the material, as clothes to be washed,will be placed in the basket 20 and the clutch shifted to causeoscillation of the basket until the clothes have been sufficientlycleansed, the clothes being maintained in submerged condition in thecleansing fluid in vat 15, by action of the sloping rods 23. Aftercleaning, the clutch will be shifted to cause revolution of the basketto extract the cleaning fluid from the material and the pump may beoperated to remove the water from the vat. With the basket still inrevolution rinsing water may be poured into the basket which will passoutwardly through the clothes and which in turn may be run to waste,after which the clothes may be removed from the basket.

If desired the electric heating means disclosed in my co-pendingapplication No. 608,076, filed April 28, 1932, may be applied to thebottom of the vat 15 by which means washwater may be heated in thebasket and the air in the basket may be heated to completely dry theclothes while they are being spun in the basket 20 whereupon the clothesmay be removed ready for the ironing board.

Minor changes may be made in the physical embodiment of the inventionwithin the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A washing machine comprising, in combination: a frame; a verticalbasket actuating shaft revolubly mounted in said frame; a belt pulleyand an oscillation producing member each loosely mounted on said shaft;a slidable clutch member feathered to said shaft to selectively drivesaid shaft from said pulley or member; a motor; a belt pulley on theshaft of said motor belted to the first named pulley to drive the shaftfrom said motor; a crank wheel and pitman device geared to said motor todrive said oscillation member; means to shift said clutch; and meansactuated by the last named means to disconnect the motor from the crankwheel when said belt pulley is clutched.

2. A washing machine comprising,. in combination: a frame; a verticalbasket-actuating shaft journaled in said frame; a belt pulley looselymounted on said shaft; an oscillatory sleeve loosely mounted on saidshaft; said pulley and sleeve bearing clutch elements on theircontiguous faces; a clutch member bearing clutch elements on itsopposite faces and slidably splined on said shaft between said pulleyand sleeve; a motor mounted on said frame with its shaft in verticalposition; a pulley fast on the motor shaft belted to said loose pulley;a worm gear on said motor shaft; a worm wheel journaled to mesh withsaid gear; a pitman connected to drive said sleeve from said worm wheelto cause oscillation of said sleeve; means to shift said clutch, andmeans actuated by said shifting means to disengage said worm gear andwheel when the belt pulley is clutched.

3. A washing machine comprising, in combination: a frame; a vertical,basket-actuating shaft journaled in said frame; a vertical, driven shaftin spaced relation to said basket shaft; a worm gear on said drivenshaft; an oscillatory sleeve loosely mounted on said basket shaft andhaving a projecting pin; a horizontal shaft journaled adjacent saiddriven shaft; ap-worni wheel loosely and eccentrically mounted on saidshaft to be moved into and out of mesh with said worm gear by partialrevolution of said horizontal shaft; a crank pin carried by said wheel;a 'pitman engaging said pins; clutch means to drive said basket shaftfrom said sleeve; and means to shift said clutch operated by saidpartial revolution of the horizontal shaft.

4. A washing machine comprising, in combination: a frame, a verticalbasket actuating shaft journaled in said frame means to selectivelyoscillate or revolve said shaft; an electric motor to drive said means;clutch means including a lever oscillatable between thebasketoscillating and basket-revolution causing positions to control theselected movement of the basket; and a self opening switch at each limitof movement of said lever, held closed by the lever while at said limitsand connected in parallel to control the circuit through said motor tobreak the same while shifting said clutch.

5. A washing machine comprising, in combination: a vertical basketactuating shaft; 8. motor mounted with its shaft perpendicular; a beltpulley and a worm gear each secured upon said motor shaft; a belt pulleyand a collar, each loosely mounted on the vertical shaft;.a clutchmember slidably feathered upon said vertical shaft to selectively engagesaid loose pulley or said collar; a worm wheel loosely mounted upon aneccentric portion of a horizontal shaft to revolve in a vertical planeand engageable with said worm gear; horizontally projecting crank pinscarried by said collar and worm wheel respectively; a pitman connectingsaid pins; and means to simultaneously turn said horizontal shaft andshift said clutch whereby to disconnectrsaid worm wheel and gear whensaid loose pulley is clutched.

RAYMOND A. HITCHCOCK.

